How to Write a Funny Story

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Laura Turner, and today we're going to talk about how to write a funny story. The first thing you want to remember when writing your funny story is to find out why it's funny. Start with your premise for your story. The best way I can describe a premise for a story is by looking at films. Because films usually rely on a log line and a premise for the entire thing. So for example, the film that's out right now is Tropic Thunder. The premise of Tropic Thunder is actors travel to Vietnam to be in a movie about Vietnam, but they actually become the soldiers in Vietnam, so hilarity ensues. So think about why your story is funny. What is the punchline of your story? Secondly think about who are you writing for? Are you writing for a high brow audience who is going to think that jokes about, you know, academia are funny. Isn't it funny about, you know, James Joyce, James Joyce walked into a bar and met you know, Mark Twain. This is not something that everyone's going to find funny. So think about especially what kind of people you're writing for, and also the region that the people are living in. People from the south might find something funny that people from the north don't. Mark Twain sort of built his career around writing stories about Missouri and about the south. And things that will be funny to people from the south. So think about the region that you're writing for when you write your story, and you'll definitely be able to be successful with that. Another good example is King of the Hill. Funny to people from Texas most especially. So have fun with it and try to sort of work toward that big climactic punchline. A really good tip about writing funny stories and funny things is to actually build upon every funny moment, to sort of try to top yourself, your own funniness as you build toward the climax of your story or your play."